Ohio Valley Discussion

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » December 16th, 2018, 1:30 am

With 2 teams garnering national buzz, a private initialed BU knocking off UCLA, a public Not A State in at-large contention bringing a Sea of Gold to the conference tournament, an IL directional ousting their in-state rival from Peoria, and the 3 aforementioned schools cruising to 4 7+ point beatdowns over also-rans from the other valley, it’s just another ho-hum year in THE Valley.

Use this thread to celebrate another historic season for the midwest’s premiere mid major conference.

**Sponsor**

by **VUGrad1314** » December 16th, 2018, 2:13 am

Come on... Murray State and Belmont are good Jacksonville State is decent but the rest of that conference is complete crap.Yes EIU beat Bradley but they lost to Chicago State and also to Fort Wayne by 44

Additionally, outside of the top three, they don't have a SINGLE TEAM above .500. Outside of Belmont and Murray State and their combined 13-2 mark the ENTIRE LEAGUE is 28-54. It's a crap league and we need to free Murray and break Belmont's stubbornness and get them out of there.

by **Jsnhbe1Birds** » December 16th, 2018, 5:50 am

If this stays the course the OVC most definitely will get 2 in.

by **ptownbraves** » December 16th, 2018, 10:40 am

MissouriValleyUnite wrote:Use this thread to celebrate another historic season for the midwest’s premiere mid major conference.

Then why does the title say Ohio Valley instead of Horizon or Summit?

Both are ranked ahead of the OVC.

All 3 are ranked in KenPom behind an MVC having a terrible non-con and it's not close. If anyone has a right to that title right now, it's the MAC.

by **Jsnhbe1Birds** » December 16th, 2018, 11:05 am

The thing is the MAC is only getting two in if Buffalo loses the conference tourney. Theyre pretty much a lock at this point.

The OVC coul get two in regardless. In fact they could get 3 in if both lose the conference tournament and only lose 2 games in the conference season which is entirely possible for both these teams.

Most likely theyll both face adversity somewhere and both will be 1 bid leagues

by **VUGrad1314** » December 16th, 2018, 3:38 pm

If this team didn't get in as an at large from the OVC...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... eason/2015

I'm not sure how any team can. Thanks in large part to the underperformance of the MVC and Wright State and Middle Tennessee in all likelihood Murray's resume won't look all that impressive unless they win the OVC Tournament . They need that Auburn game.

Belmont's looks better but they need to beat Purdue (and hope they get their act together ) and hope that Lipscomb runs away with the A-Sun. All the UCLA win did was balance out the Green Bay loss. This could actually be the year that changes Belmont's mind and helps us bring in Murray State in the process. I can't see them getting in as an at large unless they have only one loss all year and another in the OVC Tournament which might force them to conclude that even a down MVC helps an at-large worthy Belmont more than the OVC.

by **TheAsianSensation** » December 16th, 2018, 9:20 pm

This might be a fascinating situation for Belmont. The rest of the OVC is terrible, just terrible. Currently 23 in CNET. And that's with Murray and Belmont propping them up. The conference will DESTROY both at-large resumes this season. Destroy. Both might only be able to afford one screwup in conference play.

Murray at least knows greener pastures are abound. Belmont doesn't. If the OVC wrecks their season, maybe they'll get a clue. But probably not.

by **VUGrad1314** » December 16th, 2018, 9:53 pm

If the OVC is smart they'd be talking to Lipscomb about membership while also considering Western Illinois Kennesaw State and North Alabama to increase their overall competitiveness across the board.
Don't get me wrong: the league is still replete with RPI drags but adding Lipscomb gives the conference another decent basketball school while adding WIU\Kennesaw State adds to the competitiveness of the league in football while weakening regional rivals. It might even be enough to get Murray and Belmont to stay which would be a huge win for their conference because it would keep the MVC at bay.

by **Murraygrad05** » December 17th, 2018, 7:24 pm

MissouriValleyUnite wrote:With 2 teams garnering national buzz, a private initialed BU knocking off UCLA, a public Not A State in at-large contention bringing a Sea of Gold to the conference tournament, an IL directional ousting their in-state rival from Peoria, and the 3 aforementioned schools cruising to 4 7+ point beatdowns over also-rans from the other valley, it’s just another ho-hum year in THE Valley.

Use this thread to celebrate another historic season for the midwest’s premiere mid major conference.

As a Murray fan this made me laugh. Must be drinking some good juice. The OVC is crap.

And sadly the OVC will never have a 2 bid year. For example, a few years ago when we had Cameron Payne we had a 25 game winning streak and went 16 - 0 in conference but lost in the semifinals of the OVC tourney. We had Dickie V, Steve Prohm, other news outlets saying we should be in. In the end we were not even a team considered on the bubble. This is just the life of a high mid major in a trash conference.

VUGrad1314 wrote:If the OVC is smart they'd be talking to Lipscomb about membership while also considering Western Illinois Kennesaw State and North Alabama to increase their overall competitiveness across the board.
Don't get me wrong: the league is still replete with RPI drags but adding Lipscomb gives the conference another decent basketball school while adding WIU\Kennesaw State adds to the competitiveness of the league in football while weakening regional rivals. It might even be enough to get Murray and Belmont to stay which would be a huge win for their conference because it would keep the MVC at bay.

Here lies the problem... Our gee golly gosh commissioner hasn't a clue on what she is doing. When SIU-Edwardsville was added we as a fan base did not understand why Northern Kentucky was not involved. It would have opened up the Cincy market, brought in a very good team, and was also right in the middle of the geographic foot print of the schools. I've said it many times and I'm sticking to it that Belmont will never move. They are in the OVC due to budgeting costs. I could be wrong and after creepy Uncle Rick finally hangs up his sweater vest they might reconsider. Or unless Vince Gill gives a substantial amount of money to them they are stuck.

by **VUGrad1314** » December 17th, 2018, 9:55 pm

Maybe Vince Gill will do that because he wants Belmont to be ready for the next big thing: MVC Membership.